Tobacco re-hydration experiment

[Cheeto]

To make a not so long story even shorter, I've been ignoring the needs my tobacco collection to the point of abuse. I have a plethora of tobacco samples and tins just sitting in the sun all day drying out with no protection.

After a couple of drinks the other night I thought it a good idea to get things in order. My first step was a sound and reliable method to re hydrating tobacco, rehydration disks.



Now these things work. Set them in distilled water, place them in a ziplock baggy with your baccy, and given some time they'll slowly rehydrate your tobacco. I wanted to see results that night though! So I went on to a more aggressive method



The idea being, fill the newspaper bag of tobacco with steam and tie off one end. The steam will rehydrate the tobacco in a matter of minutes and it will be as good as old baccy should be.

Didn't work for me. I think the idea is pretty sound but there were some problems. One being the newspaper bag was very small, meant for a local community newspaper, and there were some holes in it. Transferring my tobacco to the bag became a pain. I had trouble directing the steam to the tobacco effectively and never achieved much rehydration as well.

So after a couple more drinks I came up with my own modified method...



Eureka!! This sucker works. Sorta. I kept the tobacco in the ziplock bag I had it in and added a straw to the process. It directs the steam, keeps the steam in the bag, and it slightly easier to handle than the newspaper. It's far from perfect though.

Who would have imagined that steam is hot?? Obviously not me when this idea popped into my head. Having a bag full of steam attached to a straw sputtering out steam = one big heated mess. It's hard to handle and can even warp the seal of the ziplock bag. Amazingly enough, steam also condensates back into water!! Who knew? So if the sides of the ziplock bag are touching each other the steam naturally starts forming back into a liquid, leaving you to clean out the ziplock bag of any left over water.

After trying this twice I decided it was just too much hassle and went back to the hydration pucks. They're set and forget, and more importantly safe for the tobacco. Once all my baccy is back to normal I plan to use better ziplock bags and place those in a storage jar with a good seal. I'll also move them away from the sun and put them in a cooler area of the house. So there you have it!!

What I learned: steam can burn you, but alcohol takes away the pain. And hydration pucks rock.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Cheeto

After a couple of drinks the other night I thought it a good idea...

Yeah, right! I got as far as the picture of a stove, kettle, straw and barehanded baggie and thought, "Dag! Another drunken pipe smoker with a good idea, a stove, a kettle, a straw and a barehanded baggie is gonna burn his hand for sure." Glad you survived.

I think the slow and steady humi-puck-in-a-baggie method is good - not as imaginative, but good.

I once had few drinks followed by (what seemed like) a perfectly good idea about ice-skating down a lumpy, frozen hillside. Left knee has never been the same. I honor your effort. Hip hip... huzzah!

[Blaylock]

Alan, I knew you was in trouble when you said... "So after a couple more drinks..."

Seems like you had a "fun night" overall. Thanks for sharing the experiment and good luck with your re-hydrating!

[Mad Hatter]

Great post Alan. I really enjoyed it, but my good man! .......you're trying to reinvent the wheel because I have already discovered rehydrating tobacco with steam vapor.

[Slow Triathlete]

The way that I always use is to put it in a bowl and cover it with a wet washcloth overnight.

Works everytime.

[GreatBonsai]

Originally Posted by Blaylock

...good luck with your re-hydrating!

Both you and your tobacco.

[paperairplane]

Dude - every potehead in America already solved this:
Get some fruit - slice of apple / pear, rind of orange, lemon, grapefruit - put it in bag with your pipeweed - wait 4 hours - good to go.

Dude

[dogsplayinpoker]

At least you were semi-productive after a few drinks. I just do things like light my leg on fire or knock my front porch down.
The humi-puck is my mode of rehydration.

[OldCode]

This thread has so many words to live by...

"After a couple of drinks the other night I thought it a good idea to ..."
"So after a couple more drinks I came up with my own modified method..."

"...Left knee has never been the same..."

"...Dude..."

never know what gems you'll find at clubstogie. Thanks for making my Friday. It could be that the beer I've had is helping make this way more insightful.

[parris001]

I REALLY appreciated the good laugh! I've mixed booze with a lot of "good ideas" and came up with a lot of gems. Glad you didn't get hurt!


Wet paper towel in a zip lock...... No booze needed. (but it never hurts)

[CEC_Tech]

That was a good post. heh heh.
Isn't it funny how the engineer inside all of us breaks free after a few drinks?